England National Football Team Match No. 781

England 0 Netherlands 2 [0-2]

Wednesday, 15 August 2001

Netherlands Pre-Match

Notes

Thursday, 9 August 2001 - Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal named a 23-man squad to face England next Wednesday.  The squad includes the two Dutch players, Barcelona defender Frank de Boer and Juventus midfielder Edgar Davids, banned for use of a banned substance, nandralone.  FIFA has informed The Netherlands' football association that the ban only applies to official matches and that de Boer and Davids are free to play in unofficial friendly matches for both club and country.  UEFA originally imposed a one-year ban on de Boer when he tested positive following a UEFA Cup match in March, but reduced it to two months on appeal because of the probability that he ingested the steroid innocently through contaminated food supplements.  Fortunately for de Boer--and The Netherlands--the reduced ban, beginning 1 July and ending 31 August, neatly coincided with the summer off-season,  and he will be free to play in The Netherlands' crucial World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland in Dublin on 1 September.  Davids, who tested positive after a club match in Italy, was provisionally banned from playing on 31 May by Italian football officials pending a hearing, which will not be held until next month, but the ban has been relaxed to allow him to play in friendly matches.  

Omitted from the squad are Arsenal forward Dennis Bergkamp, out of favour with van Gaal, Rangers midfielder Ronald de Boer, who has not yet regained full fitness following long-term injury, Rangers defender Arthur Numan, also regaining fitness after a long-term injury, Feyenoord midfielder Paul Bosvelt, who fractured his cheekbone in a preseason friendly, and Internazionale midfielder Clarence Seedorf.  Van Gaal has also made it clear Jordi Cruyff will not be considered for the squad.

Wednesday, 15 August 2001 - Celtic defender Bobby Petta suffered a hamstring injury in the Tuesday evening training session, forcing his withdrawal from the Netherlands squad.  Petta had been set to make his international debut against England after Marc Overmars informed coach Louis van Gaal that he was not fit.  However, Overmars has now been declared fit to play.  Van Gaal also announced that Liverpool goalkeeper Sander Westerveld has withdrawn from the squad because he aggravated a persistent hamstring injury in Sunday's Charity Shield match against Manchester United.  Westerveld would not have played in any event.  The Netherlands coaching staff told him earlier this week that Ronald Wattereus would be given his international debut and share goalkeeping duties with first-choice Edwin van der Sar.  Barcelona defender Frank de Boer was declared unfit to play just before the match.  He had been considered doubtful for several days as a result of an Achilles tendon injury.  De Boer limped off the pitch in Barcelona's pre-season friendly against Derby County last Friday, missed Barcelona's Sunday friendly against Blackburn Rovers and was unable to train for several days.

____________________

PY/CG